BREAKING NEWS -- Court Dismisses DC Suit Against Firearms Manufacturers

Updated Jan. 11, 4:06 pm -- The Legal Times covers the dismissal of the DC lawsuit against firearms manufacturers in a story titled "DC Fires Blanks In Automatic Weapons Suit."

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It's been a mixed week, but on the heels of the San Francisco handgun ban being ruled illegal in California comes a second common sense decision from the courts -- this time in our nation's capital.

The latest victory comes on behalf not of law abiding firearms owners, but the firearms manufacturers that make a lawful product. These companies have been saddled with nuisance suits designed not to stem crime, but blatantly to bleed gun makers dry in hopes of pushing them out of business. A lower court in 2006 dismissed DC's lawsuit. Officials in the district appealed.

Today, in a unanimous ruling, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit against 25 firearms manufacturers filed by the district and the families of nine victims of criminals who used guns during the course of their crimes. The lawsuit was filed in January 2000, but according to the opinion written by Associate Judge Michael William Farrell, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 required the court to dismiss the case.

The Second Amendment Foundation's Alan Gottlieb said the ruling was proper, and recalled that it was municipal lawsuits like this that led to passage of the federal legislation in the first place. SAF was not a participant in this litigation.

From the SAF news release: "At one time, several cities filed a string of junk lawsuits against gun makers, and SAF actually filed countersuits against big city mayors who launched the legal attack. We’re proud of the tenacity shown by American firearms makers, and their refusal to be bullied by this kind of legal harassment,” Gottlieb stated. “Such lawsuits threaten the gun rights of all law-abiding citizens by posing a threat to the very life of the nation’s firearms industry. It is no secret that such lawsuits have been launched not simply to blame gun companies for out-of-control crime, but to put them out of business through a financial and legal war of attrition.

“The courts, and the American public, realize that manufacturers, no matter who they are, cannot be blamed for the actions of individuals who misuse their products, whether they are golf clubs, baseball bats, automobiles or firearms."

This is a victory for all Americans, regardless of whether they want to exercise their Second Amendment rights.